The Expressive Powers of Law : Theories and Limits / Richard H. McAdams.
2015
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Details
Author
Title
The Expressive Powers of Law : Theories and Limits / Richard H. McAdams.
Imprint
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2015]
Copyright
©2014
Description
1 online resource (318 p.) : 14 diagrams
Formatted Contents Note
Frontmatter
Contents
List of Figures
Introduction: Alternatives to Deterrence and Legitimacy
1. Expressive Claims about Law
2. The Focal Point Power of Expression
3. Law as Focal Point
4. Law's Focal Power in Dynamic Perspective
5. Legislation as Information
6. Revelation of Information by Legal Enforcement
7. The Power of Arbitral Expression
8. Normative Implications
Conclusion. Law's Expressive Powers
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Contents
List of Figures
Introduction: Alternatives to Deterrence and Legitimacy
1. Expressive Claims about Law
2. The Focal Point Power of Expression
3. Law as Focal Point
4. Law's Focal Power in Dynamic Perspective
5. Legislation as Information
6. Revelation of Information by Legal Enforcement
7. The Power of Arbitral Expression
8. Normative Implications
Conclusion. Law's Expressive Powers
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Summary
When asked why people obey the law, legal scholars usually give two answers. Law deters illicit activities by specifying sanctions, and it possesses legitimate authority in the eyes of society. Richard McAdams shifts the prism on this familiar question to offer another compelling explanation of how the law creates compliance: through its expressive power to coordinate our behavior and inform our beliefs. People seek order, and they sometimes obtain a mutually shared benefit when each expects the other to behave in accordance with law. Traffic regulations, for example, coordinate behavior by expressing an orderly means of driving. A traffic sign that tells one driver to yield to another creates expectations in the minds of both drivers and so allows each to avoid collision. McAdams generalizes from traffic to constitutional and international law and many other domains. In addition to its coordinating function, law expresses information. Legislation reveals something important about the risks of the behavior being regulated, and social attitudes toward it. Anti-smoking laws, for example, signal both the lawmakers' recognition of the health risks associated with smoking and the public's general disapproval. This information causes individuals to update their beliefs and alter their behavior. McAdams shows how an expressive theory explains the law's sometimes puzzling efficacy, as when tribunals are able to resolve disputes even though they lack coercive power or legitimacy. The Expressive Powers of Law contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms by which law-simply by what it says rather than what it sanctions-generates compliance.
Language Note
In English.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)
Location
www
In
Title is part of eBook package: EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2015 De Gruyter
Title is part of eBook package: EBOOK PACKAGE Law 2015 De Gruyter
Title is part of eBook package: Harvard University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 De Gruyter
Title is part of eBook package: EBOOK PACKAGE Law 2015 De Gruyter
Title is part of eBook package: Harvard University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 De Gruyter
Access Note
restricted access (http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec) online access with authorization
Alternate Title
DeGruyter online
Language
English
ISBN
9780674735965
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